21st April 2024
Hello everyone.
Thank you for answering the Coffee Shop questions! Your answers were so helpful. I know I was rambling on about that quite recently but I have some more news to share.
I’ve been sitting in my garden today surrounded by lots of A4 paper, marker pens, and coffee. I needed to make a plan for PRIOR, as the huge spinning mass that it is, needs a robust plan and, I hate to say it, an exit strategy.
I have one year left to go BIG, or to go home.
Those who have followed PRIOR’s growth (both in the sense of the ‘shop’ and me personally) will know that it’s been a very tough ride for retail in general, especially and unfairly for those who are passionate about a wider social and environmental cause and who have tried to grow into larger spaces to have more impact.
I want to keep the large shop in Cabot because it has the biggest impact, however, no matter how hard I try, it’s proving quite impossible for the long term. I am forever the optimist and believe that if I hang on, the magic formula in all of this will present itself; something amongst all of this hard work will be the answer. So today, and quite late into the evening, I sat amongst my scribbles and spreadsheets trying to build and connect all of my ideas. Mapping all of the things we do and dream of; all of our costs; risk assessing all the things that can go wrong and the things that can go right. I also wrote a list of the benefits and losses that I would personally have if I closed PRIOR - I bet you can imagine the results of that one.
I have a big plan which you can read about here (some things are quite big changes - including results of your coffee shop feedback). The headlines are: I'm going to give it everything over the next 12 months. I’m going to dig deeper and charge at it. I have an exit plan and if April 2025 comes and we’re still losing money, I’m going to admit that Cabot Circus wasn’t the place for us and move us back into a little shop somewhere in Bristol, or get a job :)
I’m going to be working with a marketing company and a videographer. To kick-start this process, I have a survey, and the answers will help me really target my ‘audience’. I’m trying to get at least 500 completed surveys so please can you help me? It takes 3-5 mins and you will get a 20% off voucher (only valid for products over £100 and until end of April) and you be entered into a prize draw to win £250. Click here
Thank you. Don’t forget to read about my plans and complete the survey
Love, Beck x